Nick and Payton on both the first day of school (September 2010) and the last (today).
Today was Nick’s last day of third grade – hurrah! It was a transition year for him in many ways. He switched schools, going from a school with 121 kids to a school with 723 kids. He had moved the year before and his parents spent the Spring getting divorced. I am glad that Nick and I managed to make it through the school year pretty unscathed. I rode him pretty hard about his grades, but absolutely recognize the fact that he had a lot on his plate. New classmates. New curriculum. New expectations. Some of the things he covered in second grade were things that his third grade classmates hadn’t worked on. And prior to him coming, his new school had worked on stuff the previous year that was completely foreign to him.
He struggled with some subjects. A lot. Subjects that were a breeze the previous year now frustrated the heck out of him. After we talked about his final report card yesterday, I told him, again, that I felt it was a transition year and it was ok. We were done. But he better kill fourth grade. No excuses. He didn’t do terribly, I just know he could have perhaps done a little bit better. That being said, one of his solid grades was Math, ending the year with a B. It started with a C in the first semester. As someone who repeated Algebra during summer school my high school Freshmen year, I couldn’t be more proud. Nor could his engineer grandfather. Exceptionally, exceptionally proud.
Last year, I interviewed Nick about his year in second grade, and loved that new tradition, so last night over dinner, I quizzed both kids on their takes for this year. Since Madeline’s last day is officially tomorrow, her interview will come next week.
What was your favorite part of third grade?
Meeting Dan and recess. Oh, and art class too.
What was your least favorite part of third grade?
Doing the endangered species project.
What will you miss about school over the summer?
Playing at recess (um, right, because there is absolutely no playing during the summertime!).
What do you want to be when you grow up?
An artist or a famous cook (I could not possibly have loved this child more than when he said “cook”).
What are some things you learned in third grade?
Division, multiplication and practicing my cursive writing more.
What excites you about going to fourth grade?
Learning long division and making new friends (because each grade level has six or seven classes, they mix them up each year so he will be with mostly new kids).
We are both happy that school is done and the summer is here. Tomorrow we’ll make our Summer Bucket List (and will share next week) and our End-of-School-Year Rainbow Cake Party is this weekend.
There will be a Friday night post here tomorrow. I could not be more behind in topics and drafts and photos and, you know, life. A few readers have asked questions over the past few months, and I owe answers. Apparently if I don’t answer right away, I can’t be trusted to remember to answer later. A thousand apologies! I know I owe sources from my shoes, a shirt of Madeline’s and jeans. If you’ve asked a question that I haven’t answered yet (or have a new one), please leave it here in the comment section and I’ll do my best to include it tomorrow night.
Until then.
June 23, 2011 – Bonus Photo
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Happy end of school year! It sounds like Nick has the right attitude towards school which is definitely the most important thing to help him do even BETTER next year. (And to be fair…how often do you ever REALLY use long division in real life?)
That’s a good picture of all of you.
Sounds like it was a very good year in many ways. I am a little surprised about letter grades in third grade! Wow. My kids get comments and numbers, which I guess can translate into some kind of letter grades, but the numbers are supposed to indicate “needs improvement” or “developing” and I think something such as “developing” makes a whole lot of sense of these little guys. I have one son who just finished fourth grade, so I still remember third pretty clearly. I think it’s quite a big year in school with much of the “learning to read” focus shifting to a “reading to learn,” and it sounds like overall Nick had a very good year. Very good developing, yes? Happy summer!
I can’t believe how much they grew over the year!
Love the three of u together!
Looks like a gigantic learning year for all! I have a bone to pick with the school for already going letter grades in the 3rd grade. There is too much pressure on these academically at this age. Wonderful picture of you and your family.